♕ajtexas♕

Congratulations on your decision to change your life and become healthy. The band is a great tool that will assist you in that change. Your fears are normal fears that I think we all felt, I know I did. You said you fear loose skin. Keep in mind if you do have loose skin, it can be corrected with plastic surgery. I reached my goal recently and yes I do have loose tummy skin. I am planning on getting a tummy tuck some time next year. Even if I don't get the tummy tuck I will take the loose skin over the 79 pounds I use to lug around with me. Good luck to you. We are here to support you through your journey.

Karen, as long as you can manage your new lifestyle and you continue to loose weight then you do not need another fill. I have my band on the looser side and lost 79 pounds managing it that way. Find what works for you and work it. You are doing great and have a good plan for yourself.

And be sure to take some pain meds before the trip. Don't wait for the pain to start cause being in pain in a car sucks! Plus stop frequently to walk for a few minutes to help with the gas from surgery. I would also check with your doctor and see if they see any problems with it. Good luck on your upcoming surgery.

Do you see a nutritionist? If not I would recommend seeing one. They can help you plan out health meals. I agree with what CG said, she gave some good advise. Going back to liquids is not going to help, you will still feel hungry and you won't be learning how to eat healthy. Focus on taking small bits, chewing till mush and waiting 1 minute between bits. This will make a big difference in the volume of food you eat, I can always eat more food if I eat fast. Setting a goal of 60 pounds in 4 months is setting yourself up for failure. You don't want to fail, so regroup talk to a nutritionist, read some of the posts in the nutrition & food forum (a lot of good ideas for healthy foods) and talk with your doctor about your frustrations. You can do this. Good luck to you.

You control food. It doesn't control you. Proud of you Dee!

Welcome Luuluu, glad you went mad with the posts!

I didn't loose any hair.

Zinhaa congrats on your success. I couldn't image running to the end of the block let along a 1/2 marathon. You have amazing accomplishments. You will make goal in no time. You are doing awesome.

The head, oh how it messes with us! If only we could band the head, things would be so much easier. But, we can't. we have to learn to deal with the head hunger. Are we physically hungry or not. What works for me is when I have that question I will drink a glass of Water, if I still feel hungry after the water I will go ahead and have a snack, but 9 times out of 10 I am not hungry. There is no easy fix for the head, sorry.

Why wait till tomorrow? You had a moment of unhealthy food choices. It's over. Make healthy choices from now on. It's okay to have a moment, just get back on track immediately following. Forgive yourself and continue on the journey.

Doing the happy dance for you!

I completely understand what you are saying. I see the fat me in the mirror. And I often have a hard time accepting complements on my weight loss. It takes a while forfor the head to catch up. One day the mind will see what the world sees.

I use almond milk, 4ozs (1/2 cup) with 3/4 cup of Special K.

Call your doctor and check. My doctor has no restrictions for alcohol. I have a glass of wine at night before dinner, have since day one. It has never caused me any problems. But, that's just me.

I eat Special K Protein Plus with Almond milk without any problems.

I had to relearn how to eat with each fill, the closer I got to the green zone. As long as you are not having trouble getting liquids down I would give yourself time to get use to the fill. Try smaller bits, chewing a little more and waiting a little longer between bits. You might be at the green zone. But if it is unmanageable then get a small unfill. Only you know what you can manage. Good luck to you.

You are doing so great. You will be past 100 pounds in no time!

I love chocolate and often crave it, add mint & I am in heaven. So with GS Thin Mints in the air my mouth has been watering...... South Beach Diet has a 100 calorie snack bar called Fudgy Chocolate Mint that totally satisfied my Thin Mint craving. Nutritional info: Calories 100 (calories from fat 35) Fat 4g (sat fat 2g) Sodium 85mg Potassium 95mg Total Carbs 14g (Dietary Fiber 6g, sugars 5g) Protein 6g Just wanted to pass the info on to other chocolate lovers!

This weekend my husband & I went to Lubbock, Texas for the Wine Chocolate Fantasia at Llano Estacado Winery. This is an annual event and is both a fund raiser for the ACF Texas Panhandle Chefs de Cuisine and the West Texas Parkinsonism Society; as well as a chocolate competition. There are entries from amateurs, professionals and chefs. The evening includes many of Llano Estacado’s wines for sampling. It was quite enjoyable hanging around barrels of aging wine, sampling some interesting chocolate creations and sipping on my favorite wines. I consumed about 800 calories this evening; pure sugar and fat calories. My total calories for the day were 1600. I am at goal and that is the only reason I chose to attend this event. I would never recommend anyone still losing to attempt managing an evening like this. I don’t know the actual calorie count for the chocolate I sampled nor do I know their actual weight so I took my best guess. Why am I telling you about this? Two reasons; it was fun and I want to share my experience managing the maintenance lifestyle. I know that I am going to attend things where the only choice is wasted calories, full of fat. As long as I stay in moderation I will be successful. I planned for this event I knew I would be eating chocolate and drinking wine. I knew about how much I wanted to have before I arrived and I stuck to that. The evening was an absolute blast.

First, you are not a complete failure. What worked for me was eating 1200 calories a day, about 60-70g of Protein. I log all my food on myfitnesspal (Add me as a friend & you can see my food diary. user: ajtexas0), drink 80 oz of Water a day and I walk about 3 miles a day (during the work week I climb the stairs in my office building 30-50 flights a day). Sounds easy.....but it wasn't. The hardest part was my head! Food cravings and I eat when I'm bored or upset. In the beginning I kept a journal and I would write down everything from what I ate to what I was feeling. Then when I found this site (4 months post-op) I would post and blog here. Having good support is what made me successful. My family didn't always understand but always supported me. I have a support group through my doctors office I go to every month and all my friend here are priceless. I log on here every day to get support. And finally, I check in with my doctor every month. I don't always get a fill, but I weigh in and tell them how I've been doing. So, first thing to do is forgive yourself and quit beating yourself up. You are ready to get back on track and we are ready to help you. You can do this, I believe in you!

Oops my user name on myfitnesspal is : ajtexas0 (forgot the 0)

My weight loss was 1-2 pounds a week at 1100-1200 calories a day. One of my favorite Snacks is 1/2 cup of plain or vanilla greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of creamy Peanut Butter. Tastes like the center of a Reese peanut butter cup. (about 150 calories & 14g of protein) Also read through the food & nutrition forum there are a lot of great food ideas there.

Msseven MIssy, Foridays & everyone else here are right. Vomiting is not normal with the band. I don't vomit & if I did I would be calling my doctor. As for eating with others, Yes I went through an adjustment period. It was more facing my fears than anything. I was afraid people would be staring at me, afraid I would eat too fast and have problems. One tool that helps me when I'm eating out or with a group of people that don't know about my band is a free app I have on my phone called Eat Slower. Basically it's a continuous timer that can be on sound, vibrate or both. So I set it for 1 minute on vibrate & put my phone on my leg under the table. I feel it vibrate & I know it's safe to take another bit. Hope this helps. Good luck to you.